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Watch: Is this an early try of the year contender?
By Online Editors
We have only just hit February, but the best try of 2019 may have already been scored thanks to this stunning effort at the Sydney Sevens by Alosio Naduva.
Fiji had just kicked off their tournament against minnows Japan in typical fashion, racing out to a comfortable 22-7 lead midway through the second half to continue the good form they showed en route to claiming the Hamilton Sevens title last weekend.
Up against a tiring defence, the Fijians were keen to add to their lead just after Naduva opened his account for the tournament with a try in the 11th minute.
The re-start from halfway was quickly taken, with the ball being sent deep into opposition territory.
Nobody from Japan was willing to lay claim to the ball, and given how far it had been kicked, the ball seemed destined to bounce over the dead ball line for a 22 metre drop out.
That was until Naduva turned on the afterburners and bolted downfield to produce one of the best tries this year.
The 28-year-old showed immense pace to beat the entire Japanese side and meet the ball just as it was about to bobble out of play inside the opposition's in-goal area.
Naduva refused to let that happen though, and dove towards the ball with his arms outstretched and head tucked in to produce a spectacular somersault which allowed him to plant the ball on the turf just shy of the chalk, scoring one of the more memorable tries in recent memory.
Fiji went on to thrash Japan 34-5, and sit atop of Pool A with three points to their name.
They will close out day one of the tournament with matches against England and Samoa later today.
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Latest Comments
McKenzie is better than Barrett , but not better than Richie Mo'unga. Richie regularly outplayed DMac in Super Rugby. , as he did in the 2023 Final in Hamilton. I remember the 2021 Aotearoa Super Rugby Final here in CHCH. Mo'unga took him to the cleaners. McKenzie is a fine footballer , but at best a hybrid 10 . Fergus Burke , ( now playing in England ), who made a big difference when he came back late in the Crusaders season , is a better 10 than DMac. I also think 140 game + Crusader Matt Todd was always a better no 7 than Sam Cane.A big part of 3 title winning teams when South African teams were still in the comp. How many titles did the Chiefs win in that period of time?
Go to commentsAre there actually any japanese at all in the courageous flowers?
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